Omar Suleiman – Taraweeh Reflections – Should We Suppress Our Emotions
AI: Summary ©
The personality traits of the three men in the story of the three people are discussed, including their use of pain and willingness to forgive passengers. The first prophet's characteristics are demonstrated, including forbearing, grieving, and willingness to forgive passengers. The use of "soothing" in the message of the prophet's story, as well as the "voice of the creator" to show gratitude and rewire emotions is emphasized. Islam is seen as a way to overcome challenges and strengthen relationships, and it is used to show validation and power.
AI: Summary ©
One of the beautiful things about the family
of Yusuf alaihis salam and Ya'qub alaihis salam
is that they stem from
a similar
spirit of Ibrahim alaihis salam.
And I wanted to actually
stick for a moment with what precedes
Surah Yusuf and Surah Hout,
and then a common denominator that you find
between these three people. Between the great grandfather,
the grandson, and the great grandson. You know,
when we talk about Ibrahim alaihi salaam as
Abu Al Anbiya, as the father of the
prophets,
Obviously, that refers to the creed, the pure
tawhid, the oneness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that Ibrahim alaihis salam taught, and how that
was transferred from generation to generation.
But there's also the akhlaq of Ibrahim alaihis
salam. The character traits of Ibrahim alaihis salam.
And as you're reading about the
twists and turns and the difficulties of Yaqub
alaihis salam and Yusuf alaihis salam, and how
they're dealing with people,
it's important to actually
appreciate for a moment
that there is a method
to the way that they are dealing with
these things. There's a methodology here. There's a
manhaj.
And that methodology comes from
the great grandfather, in the case of Yusuf
alaihi salam, the great grandfather Ibrahim alaihi salam.
Now here's something I want you to pay
attention to. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us
in these 2 surahs
about how each one of them dealt with
their emotions. So there's a question that I'll
ask and I won't answer it right now.
Is it good to suppress your emotions? Is
it healthy to suppress your emotions?
Yes or no?
All the men said, yes. All the women
said, no.
Exactly what I thought would happen. Right?
Pay attention, subhanAllah, to something very beautiful
about these 3 men.
All 3 of them, within
the capacity of these 2 surahs, and we
often talk about, you know, a hot temper
being transitioned from 1 to the next. But
here you have a beautiful huduk, a beautiful
characteristic transition from 1 to the next.
All 3 of them dealt with pain that
was caused to them by one of their
family members or some of their family members.
In the case of Ibrahim alaihis salam,
he complains to Allah about the pain caused
to him by who?
His father. In the case of Yaqub alaihis
salam, he complains about who?
His sons. In the case of Yusuf alaihis
salam, who?
His brothers.
Right? So the parent,
the child, the sibling.
And the method here that you have in
Surahud, and remember that Yaqub
lived to see his grandfather Ibrahim,
and there's a beautiful lesson that transitions here.
Allah describes Ibrahim alaihis salam with in the
Ibrahim
It's one of the most beautiful summaries of
a man's character alaihis salam.
Ibrahim alaihis salam
was haleem. He was very forbearing. He had
to take a lot.
He had to deal with a lot. The
types of things that Ibrahim alaihis salam went
through, the types of pain that he encountered,
the types of hardships
that were inflicted upon him by the same
people that are supposed to give you comfort
and love, were so much the pain from
his people, the pain from all
circles and sectors of his society.
When he's thrown into that fire and Ibrahim
looks around, he doesn't have a friend amongst
the human beings.
His only supporters is his wife Sarah. Lut
alaihis salam has already moved on before that.
So he's looking around and he sees nothing
but insult and hatred
and pain being inflicted upon him. Halim.
He has to take a lot,
but he was a wah.
Allah describes him as someone who grieves.
Right? So we're talking about the intensity of
emotion in the Khutba. He had a lot
inside. He had a soft heart. This is
of the mission of the prophets.
They are a mercy
in their prophethood. And the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, the last and final prophet is
a mercy to the world.
It hurts him
What is said to him, and then the
fate of those that are saying these things
to him. It hurts him. They have soft
hearts. They are the softest
hearted of people to ever walk the face
of the earth because
the softer your heart, the greater your rank
in the sight of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So Ibrahim alayhis salam used to take a
lot from the people,
and he had a tender heart. He was
awa.
So how does he deal with that?
He's Munid. He's turned back to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Frequently turning back to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Like if I could give you
a visual of this ayah. Think about the
first part, You
imagine the people hurting him, yelling at him,
and his ability to be patient with that.
Awa when he's all alone, and he is
grieving, and he is crying,
and he is feeling the pain of what
is being done? Munib turned back to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and funneling all of that
into his Ibadah, into his dua to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, into his supplication,
into his prayer, into his worship.
There's a method here.
And you could see in Yaqub alaihis salam
that he's halimunawahun
munib.
And you could see in Yusuf alaihis salaam
that he's.
All three of those characteristics are demonstrated in
their story.
In the case of Yaqub alaihis salaam, you
have to be extremely forbearing to be able
to deal with the pain that is being
caused to you by your sons. He's taking
a lot from them.
Not just that they kidnapped
his son and threw him away, but that
they also lied to him. And they're mocking
him in his pain, and calling him a
deluded old man, a delusional old man. Why
can't you get over it?
What does the Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
That
He cried himself blind.
Crying to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala,
but il Allah
munib.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, fahuwa kalim,
he swallowed it.
He swallowed it. Right?
Those that swallow their pain, he swallowed
his emotions,
his pain, and he took it to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you see the element
of
forbearing,
grieving, turned back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Forbearing, grieving, turn back to Allah. That's very
interesting
because then you come to Yusuf alaihis salam.
The last one in this equation, in this
sequence. Ishaq alaihis salam, we don't see any
pain being caused to him
in the Quran. Right? But Allah knows the
life of a Nabi always comes with his
challenges. Right? The life of a prophet always
comes with his challenges.
But Yusuf alaihis salam, when Yusuf's in front
of his brothers
and he is in a position of power,
and they don't know who he is,
and they say, in Yasserik, if he steals,
right, if he stole meaning Binyamin, then he
had a brother that stole before just like
him. Meaning they insulted Yusuf alaihi wa sallam
not realizing they were standing right in front
of him. What does Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
say about Yusuf alaihi
sallam?
Yusuf
alafinafsihi.
Yusuf swallowed it to himself,
Like he
burned stings.
And he said,
that you are in an evil place.
And Allah knows what you're planning.
SubhanAllah,
Think about how profound this is. So first
of all, you see again, a wah,
that he is haleem, he's taking a lot.
I mean for him to not just like
take his brothers out in the moment, that
takes a lot of patience. We always talk
about Yusuf alaihi salaam in the end and
his willingness to forgive them.
Most of us,
if you saw your brothers after all those
years after they threw you in the well,
the moment that you you you set your
side on them, and you're in a position
of power, you're going to say to,
to the rest of the people in in
in Egypt,
I have some business to take care of.
Come, let's go to the Nile river. Right?
You you jump me into a well, it's
time to get rid of you. Most of
us would would say, alright, revenge. Right away,
as soon as we see them, right? We'd
wanna take our revenge back. Youssef is holding
it all in.
He's being patient with them. And then they
insulted him and he's still being patient with
them. And Allah is showing us how he's
like it was inside of him when they
said that comment.
And so much so, subhan'ala, was turned to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so much so
that Allah
recorded
the words
he said to himself
for us to recite today.
Think about how profound this is.
SubhanAllah,
Yusuf alaihis salam said something to himself.
What an evil position you are or you
all are in and Allah knows what you're
planning. He said it to himself
and imagine if there's like a microphone on
the inside of the heart and amplifying it,
what he said to himself in his pain
is in the Quran.
Meaning billions of people have recited
out loud what a man said to himself
in that pain as he swallowed it for
the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That is so profound, subhanAllah.
And it's one of the greatest ways that
you can see validation, like Allah ahsawajal showing
Yusuf alaihi salam, and showing us
that the cry of the believer to himself
is not lost.
You know, you might say to yourself, here's
how shaitan gets to you. Shaitan says, are
you gonna let that go?
If you don't say anything, then the record
won't be straight. You have to say this
and you have to say that. Eggs you
on. Respond.
Be louder than them. Be more aggressive than
them. Do this. Do this. And Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is showing just as he shows
us with Zakaria alaihi salam in the corner
of an Aqsa and these prophets as they
made their silent duas.
Dua and kafiyyah
that even the inner thought of the believer
when he swallows for the sake of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, That Allah
is recording that, and that that could be
a source of great tremendous reward for that
person.
Now here's the thing, SubhanAllah.
Every single one of them you see this.
And the question that I asked in the
very beginning, and it is an important question,
is it healthy
to suppress your emotions?
No.
But it is prophetic to redirect your emotions.
That's what you see in all 3 of
these prophets.
They had a method of redirect to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. They took it from here,
and then they brought it to Allah
here.
Everything they took,
Everything they took from the people,
they took back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
And
that allowed them
to be the amazing people that they were,
and to have that
to have that trait.
Knowledge is through seeking knowledge, and forbearance is
through practicing it. And dear brothers and sisters,
if you simply suppress your emotions and hold
it in all the time, and and you
don't talk to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with
it, then at some point you're just gonna
explode.
At some point, it's just gonna come out
in the worst way. And that's the thing.
So a lot of people, they take, they
take, they take, and then eventually the the
balloon pops.
And then it all breaks loose. Right?
The prophets always had that valve.
Every single night,
they had that valve with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
Even SubhanAllah, the scholars mentioned when Yaqub, alaihis
salam, says to his sons,
After it all came to be,
Yusuf alaihi salam said, I forgive you.
Right? When the brothers said to their father
after everything had been done,
right? To seek forgiveness for us. He said,
I will seek forgiveness
for you. The ulama mentioned what? That Yaqub
alaihis salam had a word. He had a
time where he would pray at at
the
time right before Fajr, the last 3rd of
the night. And so when he's saying so
fastafrullahkumrabi
that I will seek forgiveness, he's saying, in
the last 3rd when I wake up and
I do my qiyam, I will ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive you.
I'll take that sincerity because that's his release
valve.
So they didn't suppress their emotions.
They redirected their emotions.
That's why the prophets of Allah were able
to endure the greatest trials because they had
the greatest outlet with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That's why the prophets were able to endure
this mission.
Because they knew who they were doing it
for, and they always turned back to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
make us as he described Ibrahim alaihis salam,
May Allah azza wa jal allow us to
embody these traits and allow us to be
in the mold of our prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam. And then joined with our prophet
salallahu alaihi wa sallam, and the prophets, and
the martyrs, and the righteous ones, and the
truth